Deformable ball

ABSTRACT

A therapeutic hand exerciser includes a resilient core and a fabric exterior lining. The core is soft, pliable and smooth when squeezed. The soft smooth feel of a segmented polyurethane fabric, such as LYCRA®, also provides a more pleasurable feel than a rubber cover. The addition of the thermo plastic urethane (TPU) lining prevents the core material from passing through the fabric cover.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates generally to hand exercisers and inparticular the present invention relates to a therapeutic squeeze ball.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Hand exercisers are available in a variety of styles and designs.In general hand exercisers are intended to allow a user to contract thefingers of a hand to exercise the muscles of the hand. Exercising thehand can be useful for physical therapy to strengthening the hand afteran injury has been sustained. Hand exercisers can also be helpful inrelieving stress.

[0003] Squeeze balls are a type of hand exerciser that provides a ballthat can be squeezed by contracting fingers around the ball. Differenttypes of squeeze balls have been produced. One type of squeeze ball usedsmall beads, sand or beans contained in a fabric or rubber-type shell.The contents of these balls are not very resilient and do not provide anappealing texture. An alternate ball construction used a siliconmaterial contained in a latex or rubber shell. Often two latex shellsare used to prevent oil from the silicon material from leaking. Althoughfabric material can be desired because of its “feel”, silicon materialin fabric shells are typically not used because oil from the siliconmaterial can leak through the weaving of the fabric. Also, it is commonfor people to have allergic reactions to latex material.

[0004] For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated belowwhich will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading andunderstanding the present specification, there is a need in the art fora silicon based squeeze ball that has a fabric-type exterior shell.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] The above-mentioned problems with squeeze balls and otherproblems are addressed by the present invention and will be understoodby reading and studying the following specification.

[0006] In one embodiment, a hand exerciser comprises a silicon gel core,a porous fabric shell covering an exterior surface of the silicon gelcore, and a non-porous urethane lining located between the porous fabricshell and the silicon gel core.

[0007] In another embodiment, a hand exerciser comprises a silicondiffused polyurethane core, a segmented polyurethane fabric shellcovering an exterior surface of the silicon diffused polyurethane core,and a thermo plastic urethane layer adhered to the segmentedpolyurethane fabric and located between the segmented polyurethanefabric shell and the silicon diffused polyurethane core.

[0008] In yet another embodiment, a method of making a hand exercisercomprises forming a silicon gel core, adhering a non-porous urethanelining to a porous fabric to form a shell material, fabricating theshell material into a shell having a shape substantially identical to anexterior surface of the silicon gel core, and encasing the silicon gelcore in the shell.

[0009] An alternate method of making a hand exerciser comprises moldinga diffused polyurethane material to form a spherical core, adhering athermo plastic urethane layer to a segmented polyurethane fabric to forma shell material, die cutting the shell material into a plurality ofshell sub-components, sewing the plurality of shell sub-componentstogether to form a shell having a spherical shape, and encasing thespherical core in the shell.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a squeeze ballof the present invention;

[0011]FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the squeeze ball of FIG. 1; and

[0012]FIG. 3 is a cross-section view of a shell material of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] In the following detailed description of the preferredembodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form apart hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specificpreferred embodiments in which the inventions may be practiced. Theseembodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilledin the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood thatother embodiments may be utilized and that logical, mechanical andelectrical changes may be made without departing from the spirit andscope of the present invention. The following detailed description is,therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of thepresent invention is defined only by the claims.

[0014] Referring to FIG. 1, a perspective view of one embodiment of asqueeze ball 100 of the present invention is provided. The squeeze ball,in its normal state is shaped as a round, or spherical ball. In theillustrated embodiment, the ball has stitching to imitate the look of abaseball. It will be appreciated with the benefit of the presentspecification that squeeze devices can be fabricated in numerous othergeometric shapes, and the present invention is not limited to roundballs.

[0015] The squeeze ball illustrated in FIG. 1 has a core comprised of agel material. In one embodiment, the gel material isDiphenylmethane-4,4′-Diisocyanate. The gel is available from BASFHeadway Polyurethanes (Taiwan) Co., Ltd., No. 11, Jen Cheng Road,Hsinchu Industrial Park, Huko Heian, Hsinchu, Taiwan as a siliconpolyurethane gel material referred to under the trade name I-126. Itwill be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other siliconmaterials can be used without departing from the invention.

[0016] The silicon material is covered in a fabric material containingLYCRA®. LYCRA® was originally developed as a replacement for rubber, andhas an ability to stretch up to about 7 times its original length—andthen snap back to its starting size with no loss to its spring. There isreally no such thing as a commercially available fabric made entirely ofLYCRA®. It's never used alone, but is always combined with another fiber(or fibers), both natural or man-made. As little as 2 percent LYCRA® isenough to improve a woven fabric's movement and its knack for holdingits shape.

[0017] LYCRA® is a man-made elastomeric fiber, invented and produced byDuPont Corporation. Generically, these kind of fibers are known asspandex in the US and Canada and as elastane in Europe. LYCRA® is a“segmented polyurethane.” While LYCRA® appears to be a single,continuous thread, it is actually a bundle of tiny filaments. It's thisunique molecular structure that gives LYCRA® its built-in, lastingelasticity. Stretch it four to seven times its original length, yet thefiber still returns to its starting size once the tension is released.

[0018] To prevent the silicon material, oil, or other byproduct of thesilicon material from passing through pores in the fabric material, theinside surface of the fabric is coated with a layer of thermo plasticurethane (TPU) material. The TPU layer prevents the gel from passingthrough the fabric without making the fabric stiff and inflexible. Anadded advantage of the TPU material is that a sandwich of TPU and fabricis more easily die cut than the fabric without a layer of TPU attachedthereto. The TPU layer can be adhered to the fabric directly or with anadhesive. In one embodiment, the TPU layer is a separate sheet having anapproximate thickness of 0.3 mm and adhered to the fabric using heatedrollers to thermally bond the two materials. It will be appreciated thata thin pliable layer of adhesive could alternatively be used.

[0019] Referring to FIG. 2, one method of manufacturing a squeeze ballis described. First a polyurethane gel is mixed and dispensed into amold to form a spherical gel ball 110. The gel balls are cured andremoved form the mold. A layer of talcum powder can be used to makehandling easier. The gel balls are allowed to cool for a predeterminedtime, for example, 24 hours.

[0020] A layer of TPU is applied to the fabric material. See FIG. 3illustrating a layer of fabric 124 and a layer of TPU adhered togetherto form a TPU supported shell material 120. The TPU supported materialis die cut into pieces 112 and 114 (sub-components for the fabric shell)resembling a FIG.-eight. The two die cut pieces of fabric are stitchedtogether using a Nylon thread to form a pouch (shell) with an openingsufficient to insert the gel ball 110, for example, a one inch openingcan be left in the fabric. A gel ball is then inserted into the fabricpouch and the cover is sewn closed using a double stitch.

[0021] It has been determined that the present invention allows forimproved screen-printing of the fabric material. That is, some indiciais often printed on squeeze ball products for marketing purposes.Printing on prior products can result in a inferior image because ofresidue from the ball core that penetrates through the exterior fabric.The present invention provides a barrier between the core and the fabricmaterial. As such, the resultant image of a screen-printing processconducted on the fabric of the present invention is visually improved.

Conclusion

[0022] The above described squeeze ball provides a therapeutic handexerciser that includes the benefit of a resilient core and the feel ofa fabric exterior lining. The core is soft, pliable and smooth whensqueezed. This provides a more pleasurable feel than beads, or the like.The soft smooth feel of a segmented polyurethane fabric, such as LYCRA®,also provides a more pleasurable feel than a rubber cover. The additionof the TPU lining prevents the core material from passing through thefabric cover.

[0023] Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and describedherein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the artthat any arrangement that is calculated to achieve the same purpose maybe substituted for the specific embodiment shown. This application isintended to cover any adaptations or variations of the presentinvention. Therefore, it is manifestly intended that this invention belimited only by the claims and the equivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A hand exerciser comprising: a silicon gel core; a porous fabric shell covering an exterior surface of the silicon gel core; and a non-porous urethane lining located between the porous fabric shell and the silicon gel core.
 2. The hand exerciser of claim 1 wherein the non-porous urethane comprises a thermo plastic urethane layer adhered to the porous fabric shell.
 3. The hand exerciser of claim 1 wherein the porous fabric shell comprises a segmented polyurethane fabric.
 4. The hand exerciser of claim 1 wherein the silicon gel core comprises a diffused polyurethane material.
 5. A hand exerciser comprising: a silicon diffused polyurethane core; a segmented polyurethane fabric shell covering an exterior surface of the silicon diffused polyurethane core; and a thermo plastic urethane layer adhered to the segmented polyurethane fabric and located between the segmented polyurethane fabric shell and the silicon diffused polyurethane core.
 6. A method of making a hand exerciser comprising: forming a silicon gel core; adhering a non-porous urethane lining to a porous fabric to form a shell material; fabricating the shell material into a shell having a shape substantially identical to an exterior surface of the silicon gel core; and encasing the silicon gel core in the shell.
 7. The method of claim 6 wherein the silicon gel core is molded to form a ball-shape.
 8. The method of claim 6 wherein the non-porous urethane comprises a thermo plastic urethane layer adhered to the porous fabric.
 9. The method of claim 6 wherein the porous fabric comprises a segmented polyurethane fabric.
 10. The method of claim 6 wherein the silicon gel core comprises a diffused polyurethane material.
 11. The method of claim 6 wherein the shell material is die cut into a plurality of shell sub-components and the plurality of shell sub-components are sewn together to form the shell.
 12. A method of making a hand exerciser comprising: molding a diffused polyurethane material to form a spherical core; adhering a thermo plastic urethane layer to a segmented polyurethane fabric to form a shell material; die cutting the shell material into a plurality of shell sub-components; sewing the plurality of shell sub-components together to form a shell having a spherical shape; and encasing the spherical core in the shell. 